Alligator kills 85-year-old woman in Florida retirement community
An 85-year-old woman was killed by a 10-foot alligator in Fort Pierce, Florida, wildlife officials said Monday. The woman was walking her dog in the Spanish Lakes Fairways retirement community at the time of the attack, according to officials.
Neighbors told CBS News that the alligator emerged from the water suddenly and dragged the woman under.
"The victim has been recovered and a contracted nuisance alligator trapper has captured the alligator involved in the incident," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.
Video and photos of the aftermath showed the large gator being wrangled by at least six people at times before being loaded into the back of a pickup truck.
Neighbors told CBS affiliate WPEC-TV that gators were not an uncommon sight in the area, but they had never witnessed an attack like Monday's.
The victim was not immediately identified.
The woman's dog survived the attack, FWC said.
Several roads in the area were closed while police and FWC investigated the attack. The St. Lucie County Sheriff's office provided the FWC with aerial support while the wildlife commission searched for the gator, WPEC reported.
The FWC said alligators usually don't attack people and that fatalities from gator attacks are rare. In the last 10 years, Florida has averaged just eight unprovoked alligator bites requiring medical attention per year, the commission said.
Lilia Luciano contributed reporting.